Chocolate Chip Dulce de Leche Sticky Buns

Chocolate chip dulce de leche sticky buns… in other words, fluffy sweet dough stuffed with mini chocolate chips and wrapped around creamy dulce de leche made with sweetened condensed milk. Oh wait, and a coffee caramel sauce to top it off.

Hello friends! It’s National Sticky Bun day and I’ve partnered with my friends over at Eagle Brand to bring you the ultimate version. May I present to you chocolate chip dulce de leche sticky buns with coffee caramel glaze?! There aren’t any pecans or cinnamon in this bad boy but I think you’ll forgive me after a bite or two or this indulgence.

What are sticky buns?

Sticky buns are very similar to cinnamon rolls. The difference is that cinnamon rolls are frosted with icing and sticky buns are baked in a caramel sauce with crushed pecans. After baking, the pan gets flipped upside down and then the caramel and pecans become the ‘sticky‘ topping.

How to make dulce de leche sticky buns?

If you’ve ever made regular sticky buns or even cinnamon rolls then this should not be rocket science. We’ll talk about how to make my sweet dough and how to add chocolate chips to it below. But for now, let’s talk about how to make dulce de leche.

Making dulce de leche out of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk is like the easiest thing on the planet! There are different methods of doing this, however, the method that I used to make dulce de leche is by baking it in a water bath.

• Begin by pouring out the sweetened condensed milk into a pan (I used a deep baking dish) and cover it with foil to keep the moisture in.
• Then place that pan into a larger pan and fill the larger pan with water (until it reaches the height of the sweetened condensed milk in the smaller pan).
• Bake for a total of 90-120 minutes at 425F. Make sure to add more water about halfway to keep the water at the same height as the sweetened condensed milk.
• Bake until the sweetened condensed milk becomes a dark caramel/amber color.
• Remove and allow to cool completely before spreading onto dough.

How to make chocolate chip sweet dough for dulce de leche sticky buns?

This is my basic sweet dough recipe. It’s an enriched dough, which means instead of just flour, yeast and a liquid there’s also butter, oil, eggs, and/or sugar in the recipe. For this particular dough, I used:

• Flour: this is what makes up most of the dough. I have not experimented this recipe with any other flour besides all-purpose. However, I am sure a bread flour would yield very similar results.
• Milk: I always use 2% cow’s milk however any kind of milk should work, whether or not it’s dairy.
• Yeast: I generally use active dry yeast because that’s what I’m used to and what I have at home but I have made this dough (without the chocolate chips) with instant/rapid rise yeast.
  • For active dry yeast version, place the yeast in warm milk and let it activate. It will foam around 5-10 minutes.
  • For instant/rapid rise yeast version, add the yeast directly to the flour mixture and then simply omit the first proof. Just let it rest 10 minutes after the kneading is complete and before rolling out the dough.
• Sugar: add one tablespoon of sugar to the yeast activating in the milk and the rest to the flour mixture.
• Eggs: I prefer to use large eggs. Try to use room temperature eggs, as they mix better in any dough or batter.
• Butter: After the dough is mixed, knead the dough while adding softened butter. This recipe also works with oil, however, you’ll have to add it in with the milk and eggs in the beginning.
• Chocolate Chips: I used bittersweet mini chocolate chips but you can use dark chocolate or milk chocolate. If you don’t find mini chocolate chips, just chop up larger ones.

What kind of glaze to make for chocolate chip dulce de leche sticky buns?

Honestly, you can use any caramel sauce for the topping but I ALWAYS prefer a homemade one. Technically for sticky buns, the caramel goes on the bottom of the pan and the rolls bake in it. If you were to do this version you should probably use a thinner caramel, as it continues to caramelize on the bottom of the pan. I prefer to bake them alone and top them with a thicker caramel afterwards (the longer you cook caramel, the thicker it gets).

To make this coffee caramel sauce you’ll need:

• Butter: salted or unsalted works, just add a pinch of salt if you use unsalted.
• Maple syrup: I always use maple syrup instead corn syrup.
• Brown sugar: The recipe would work with castor sugar or brown sugar.
• Coffee: I used an americano but brewed or even instant coffee will work as well.
• Heavy cream: Always add cream in SLOWLY so it doesn’t splatter everywhere. Cream can be substituted for milk.
• Vanilla extract: Always add vanilla after you’ve removed the caramel from the heat. I learned from experience that vanilla extract does not taste good burned.

Serving and storing chocolate chip dulce de leche sticky buns

We all know sticky buns are best fresh but if you have to, please reheat the sticky buns a little before eating them because they’re SO MUCH BETTER WARM! Make sure to store sticky buns in an airtight container or cover the pan with plastic wrap to keep them as fresh as possible. Leaving them out uncovered will dry them up a bit more.

Alright friends, if you happen to make these indulgent dulce de leche sticky buns with chocolate chip dough and coffee caramel sauce you won’t regret it! Also, make sure to tag me @baranbakery and @eaglebrandmilk on instagram. As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B

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Yield: 16 medium rolls

Chocolate Chip Dulce de Leche Sticky Buns Recipe

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Fluffy sweet dough stuffed with mini chocolate chips and rolled around creamy dulce de leche and topped with a coffe caramel sauce.

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Chocolate Chip Dulce de Leche Rolls

• 1 cup milk, warm
• 2 and 1/4 tsp (7g or 1 sachet) active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

Coffee Caramel Sauce

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup coffee
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Chocolate Chip Dough

1. Heat up the milk until it's warm to the touch but not too hot to touch.
2. Add in the yeast and 1 Tbsp of sugar to the milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, until it foams.
3. Place the flour, salt and the rest of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a hook attachment, with mixer on low speed, add in the eggs to the dry ingredients.
4. While it's still mixing, slowly pour in the milk mixture. Once the dough is combined, continue beating on low-medium speed with the hook attachment while slowly adding in chunks of butter.
5. Allow the dough to knead for 5-10 minutes, until it peels away from the bowl and forms a ball. Add 1-2 tbsp of flour if it's too sticky.
6. Allow the dough to proof in a warm environemnt until it doubles in size, about one hour. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead in the mini chocolate chips. Let it rest for 10 minutes and then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough.

Dulce de Leche

1. Make the dulce de leche at least 3 hours in advance. Pour 1 can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk into a 9 inch pie plate and cover it with aluminum foil.
2. Place the pie plate in a larger shallow pan and fill the larger pan with hot water. Bake it at 425F (218C) for 2 hours or until it becomes thick and caramel colored (refill the water if necessary). Remove it and allow it to cool before using.
3. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, 1/4 inch thick. Spread the dulce de leche on top, and starting on the longer end, roll the dough tightly and slice it into 12 rolls. 
4. Preheat the oven to 350F/177C convection (or 325F/162C conventional) and place the rolls in a greased 9x13" pan and allow them to proof for about 30-60 minutes.
5. Bake the rolls for 30 minutes.

Coffee Caramel Sauce

1. In a small saucepan on the stove, melt the butter and maple syrup.
2. Once melted, add the brown sugar, salt and coffee. Whisk over medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved.
3. Remove the mixture from the heat and SLOWLY add in the cream while whisking. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat to low-medium. Allow the sauce to simmer for five minutes.
4. Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and allow it to cool a little before topping the sticky buns.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 331Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 93mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 4g

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For similar recipes, check out:

• Dark Chocolate Blood Orange Cake
• Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls
• Caramelized White Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Thank you for supporting all things Baran Bakery & the brands that make it all possible. This post was sponsored by Eagle Brand. All opinions are 100% my own.